Wednesday, May 08, 2013

It seems that however many bags a person has, she'll always have a couple of go-tos. In my case, there's this painted denim bracelet-bag that I got at a resale store which tends to be my first choice for nights out. Not because it's fancy, but because it's small (but just the right size for needs and extries), indestructible, and the bracelet closures mean I can cram it on my wrist and not worry about it for the rest of the evening, no matter how blurry it gets.

The problem with that bag is that the motif -- "LOVE HURTS" -- is, how can I say it, very ... shit, what's that dooshy t-shirt brand? You know the one I mean. Yeah, it's very THAT. Plus the metal bracelet rings can get a little uncomfortable.

So, I sketched out a similar design, and took a couple of swings at it myself. After 3 or 4 prototypes, I decided to go whole-hog and try it in vinyl. (Those of you who work with vinyl will understand that it's a very different [faux] animal.) I'd already embroidered on vinyl with my dear Rudy and knew it was a great base for open designs. I had this adorable scrollwork bats design from Urban Threads (of course), and after editing the eye-colors, I stitched it out on some pebble-texture upholstery vinyl I had lying around.

And it turned out so! good!

I assembled it with some night bats quilting fabric I had in the stash, and added a magneto purse snap for a little extra security.

It needs a little tweaking to deal with the multiple folded vinyl layers, but this version of it is very usable. The way it works is that it can be carried as a regular wristlet, or -- and this is my favorite -- the wrist strap can be fed through a D-ring at the opposite side to round the bag off and make it bullet-proof.

It's a killer little bag that I don't have to worry about losing, falling open, or setting it into something wet. If only I could say the same thing for the rest of my wardrobe.